Jackson Lee says Democrats never tried to impeach Bush, but Texas lawmaker supported resolution to do so in 2008

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, came under fire after claiming the Democratic-controlled House never tried to impeach President George W. Bush – even though she supported a resolution to do so in 2008.

In a 225-201 vote along party lines, the House gave Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, the authority to sue President Barack Obama for changing a part of the Affordable Care Act on his own.

Jackson Lee said on the House floor that the lawsuit was “a veiled attempt at impeachment, and it undermines the law that allows a president to do his job.”

“A historical fact: President Bush pushed this nation into a war that had little to do with apprehending terrorists. We did not seek an impeachment of President Bush because – as an executive – he had his authority,” Jackson Lee said. “President Obama has the authority.”

Buzzfeed jumped on Jackson Lee’s statement, pointing out that then-Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, introduced a resolution six years ago to impeach President George W. Bush. The resolution had 11 co-sponsors, all Democrats – including Jackson Lee.

It accused Bush of “misleading the American people and members of Congress to believe Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States” and “creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against Iraq,” among other claims.

Michael McQuerry, a spokesman for Jackson Lee, said the congresswoman meant that Democrats did not try to impeach Bush because of executive orders he issued.

Jackson Lee made her case for Bush’s impeachment at a House Judiciary Committee hearing in 2008.

“Whether or not we define it as high crimes and misdemeanors, which frankly I do believe we have a very firm basis of suggesting high crimes and misdemeanors because the impeachment inquiry made in this body – the Judiciary Committee – is what it is,” she said. “It is a prosecutorial approach, it is the indictment, it is the question of determining whether we move forward, and then the trial is held in the Senate.”